Syracuse football team will lose one key player but has numbers returning at defensive end

Syracuse football defensive end Markus Pierce-Brewster moved right into the starting lineup from the junior-college ranks this season.Frank ordoñez / The Post-Standard

Syracuse, NY -- The Syracuse football team (7-5) is preparing to face West Virginia (7-5) at 3:15 p.m. Dec. 29 in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. It is also using several of the 15 practices allotted to bowl-eligible teams to prepare for the future, as the coaching staff starts to take a serious look at the candidates to replace departing seniors.

This is part of a continuing series that examines the team position by position and predicts how it breaks down heading into 2013. Already covered were the quarterback, tailback, fullback, tight end, wide receiver, center, guard, offensive tackle and defensive tackle positions. Today: defensive end.

Brandon Sharpe transformed himself from a 220-pound pass-rushing specialist as a true freshman to a 255-pound every-down player this season as a senior. A second-team All-Big East selection, he will enter the bowl game with a team-leading six sacks and 13.5 tackles foe a loss. He will depart with 48 games worth of experience and will be missed but the Orange has three players returning with significant game experience and has bolstered the position from the junior-college and high school ranks. It is also one of the finalists for the top overall prospect in the state, the Big Apple’s Ebenezer Ogundeko, who will supposedly choose early next month between SU and Clemson and enroll shortly afterward. Here are the players:

Markus Pierce-Brewster (6-foot-3, 248 pounds). A former junior-college All-American, Pierce-Brewster arrived in August and moved quickly into the starting lineup, a difficult transition to make. He showed glimpses of being a dominant player, but the grind of a Division I schedule and a new environment took their toll and he settled for being a solid if not spectacular performer as a first-year starter. He will enter the bowl game with 30 tackles, eight for a loss, and one sack. The feeling here is Pierce-Brewster will benefit greatly from the 15 extra practices this month and a full spring season with the team and will really come into his own next season as a senior.

Micah Robinson (6-4, 270). Robinson is an interesting case. He certainly looks the part of a strong-side defensive end capable of stardom, possessing the quickness to play on the edge and the strength to move inside and play tackle in a pinch. That kind of versatility is rare for a d-lineman. Yet, while Robinson has done nothing to hurt the team as the first end off the bench this season he has never stood out, either. He will enter the bowl game with 16 tackles and 1.5 sacks. With two years of eligibility remaining and Sharpe’s spot vacant, Robinson will have an opportunity to move into the starting lineup next season but must make the most of it.

Robert Welsh (6-3, 259). Give Welsh credit. As recently as September it appeared the former all-state player from Long Island would spend his college career on special teams. Welsh kept plugging away, though, and with Deon Goggins moved back to tackle for keeps due to injuries there he has emerged as the team’s fourth end in the rotation and has gotten increased playing time. Whether he can make a serious bid to earn a starting job next season as a junior remains to be seen, but he has worked his way into the mix.

Donnie Simmons (6-2, 242). Simmons is where Sharpe was a few years ago, an undersized end with good edge quickness and a motor that won’t quit but needing to grow into the position. Unlike Sharpe, Simmons had the luxury of redshirting his rookie season and has been relegated mostly to special-teams play this season, a significant fall from the spring when he completed that season first on the depth chart opposite Sharpe. With three years of eligibility remaining he still has plenty of time to make his presence felt but must get bigger while maintaining his quickness.

Josh Manley (6-2, 269). When Doug Marrone arrived four years ago he probably would have needed a player with Manley’s size and potential to step into the lineup right away. Thanks to the depth Marrone and his staff have built since then that is no longer a necessity. Manley, the nephew of former Washington Redskins’ star Dexter Manley, has had the luxury of cutting his teeth on the scout team this season and will be ready to join the competition for playing time in the spring.

Trevon Trejo (6-5, 245). SU recruiting coordinator Greg Adkins has great ties to the California junior-college system and has been mining the area with success recently, bolstering the d-line with players such as Pierce-Brewster, Goggins and defensive tackle Zian Jones. The latest to join the party is Trejo, who appeared headed to Michigan State for his final two seasons of eligibility before Adkins made his move. Trejo was a rangy weakside end in junior-college and should be in the thick of the hunt there in 2013.

Syracuse has also received an oral commitment from Maryland schoolboy star Isaiah Johnson (6-5, 270), and it will keep its fingers crossed next month as Ogundeko (6-4, 240) announces his decision.